Swansea City 2-4 Sunderland: Jermain Defoe's hat-trick crushes the Swans

Jermain Defoe’s hat-trick sunk 10-men Swansea City 4-2 on Wednesday at the Liberty Stadium as Sunderland grabbed a crucial win.

It was a game that was full of mistakes, from both the players and the officials, with three of the six goals scored in the match standing due to Graham Scott and the rest of the his team's poor decision making.

Not to mention the reason why the Swans went down a man was because of another poor decision, with defender Kyle Naughton winning the ball, not fouling his man, in the 37th minute. If he did not receive his red card then it would have been a completely different game.

Lively start

From the very start of the game there were sparks on the attack from both clubs. However, it was the Black Cats who took the lead in the third minute of the match. It was also the start of the controversial decision making from Scott in a huge game in the Premier League.

Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski committed a blunder by kicking the ball directly to Jeremain Lens from a goal-kick and, in a matter of a few seconds, the Polish international keeper was forced to make a save.

However, he failed to hold on the ball, and as a result the ball rolled free right into the centre of the box where Defoe pounced and gave the Black Cats the lead.

Still, there was another error here as Defoe was in a clear offside position when Fabianski made the save. Scott, officiating in his fourth Premier League game, showed his inexperience throughout the game, but his assistants certainly didn't help him out, as was seen here. The goal stood and Sunderland went ahead early.

Regardless of the poor call, the Jacks responded well by taking over the game and producing chances. However, the equaliser for the Welsh club did not come from a world class strike, instead from a soft penalty awarded by Scott in the 21st minute.

Ghanaian international André Ayew was making a run into the penalty box with the ball and his movement created space for his shot but he kicked the ground instead and went down.

Right behind him was Sunderland defender Wes Brown. The now 20-year EPL veteran was following Ayew closely from behind, but he never made contact with the player. Even when the Ghanaian speedster missed his shot, Brown had his hands up and did not touch him once.

However, Scott saw a penalty and called it, with Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson making no mistake as he converted to level the match at 1-1.

Red card can't hold Swans down

After equalising, the Jacks continued to put relentless pressure on the Black Cats and looked the better team.

However, as half time approached, everything would change as Scott made another ill decision, this time one which was going to handicap the Jacks for the rest of the game.

Kyle Naughton stole the ball off of Yann M'Vila on the right, the ball perhaps a foot off the ground but both players going for it and the right-back emerging winning after he only made contact with the ball. However, the Sunderland midfielder went down screaming and Scott, with no hesitation, gave the 27-year-old defender a straight red card.

At first it did not seem to trouble the Swans as, a couple minutes later, Ayew displayed his strength and footwork as he gave the home club the 2-1 lead. Still, it would show in the second half.

The goal actually came directly from the red card incident. The free-kick awarded went into the box and Fabianski collected it before releasing the ball quickly for Ayew to race onto at the other end.

Ayew won the foot race to the ball with ease. His marker, Lee Cattermole, recuperated and placed himself directly in the middle of the Ghanaian and the goal, but Ayew was not to be stopped as he completed a well executed spin to elude him. He then blasted a low hard shot past the challenge of Wes Brown and across the face of Vito Mannone's goal, into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

The Liberty Stadium erupted with delight and the defiant Swans went in at the break with a 2-1 lead.

Sunderland come out serious

In the second half that all changed, as the confidence of Swansea dropped due to Sunderland’s persistence.

Black Cats full back Patrick Van Aanholt would deal the first blow to their hope in what was an impressive individual display from him. He received the ball, cut inside to elude Angel Rangel, and created space for himself to shoot. Federico Fernandez was in his way to block, but he turned his back on the shot, allowing it to fly off him and into the back of the net at the opposite side to which Fabianski was going.

Only four minutes had passes since the start of second half and Sunderland had already levelled the match.

Swansea lost their composure after losing the lead so fast. The Jacks failed to hold onto the ball or slow down Sunderland’s momentum. The Black Cats, on the other hand, capitalised on their confidence and started increasing the tempo even more and stretching the field.

Just past the hour the Black Cats jumped ahead 3-2. Midfielder Adam Johnson was deep in midfield when he delivered a through ball to Defoe, the England international again looking offside as he tried to bend his run. As a result of no flag, the 33-year-old striker went in one-on-one with the keeper and converted his chance to give Sunderland the lead.

After going down a goal the Swans did not give up as they produced a few more half chances. Speedy midfielder Modou Barrow and striker Ayew kept up the pressure as they continually kept on running at the defence, whilst Rangel had a goal - this time rightfully - disallowed for offside.

However, their efforts went in vein as Defoe tapped in his third goal in the 85th minute and secured a 4-2 victory for Sunderland.

Even deeper trouble

With this result the Swans are in trouble, with only one point separating them and the relegation zone.

They currently sit in 17th place with 19 points, whilst the Black Cats are now in 18th place with 18 points - and Newcastle United are level on points with Sunderland, but due to goal difference they sit in 19th. Another defeat for the Jacks might see them potentially drop to 19th.

With that being said, the Welsh club will need to bounce back on Monday when they face 10th place Watford at the Liberty.